New Recruit
by Medie Shanachie
Summary: Colby goes back to work after an interesting weekend; pre-series


_Notes/Warnings: For those of you who don't know Aiden is my OFC for my Stargate: Atlantis series. Long before she started working for the Air Force, she worked for the Army CID...draw your own conclusions from that and this story. Oh, and I have to warn you about her mouth--she looks sweet and innocent, but she swears worse than a Marine...and in more languages. This story directly follows yesterday's post of "Target Acquired". This is what happens after the bar and their weekend. (Sorry, Candi, there was no way I could keep this within the 300 word limit.)_

_Disclaimer: Unfortunately Colby Granger doesn't belong to me or to Aiden. Aiden, on the other hand, is purely a figment of my imagination--but don't tell her that. Carter doesn't belong to me either (and honestly I don't want him, but I had to use him in this fic). _

* * *

Second Lieutenant Colby Granger rubbed a tired hand over his face. He had left Aiden's hotel room late last night and they hadn't gotten much sleep prior to that. As he pulled on clothes (and she lazed in bed; watching him), he had asked when he could see her again. Her face, so open as she admired him, had shut down and she had told him it had been a fun weekend, but not something she wanted to pursue. At some point during the weekend, details were hazy, she had mentioned she was in Kabul to work, although she hadn't told him what she was planning to do. They had traded languages along with sex over the weekend; his Spanish for her Arabic, but he didn't think she had picked up more than the body parts he had traced. With that clue, he suspected she had something to do with translating; probably for one of the big companies that had been moving in lately. Her passport and accent had been American, but too generic for him to narrow it down. And that didn't mean she worked for an American company, just that she was a U.S. citizen.

Dwayne Carter, his partner and best friend, dropped into the chair next to him and handed him a cup of coffee. "You look like you can use this, Granger," he commented, saluting with his own cup.

Colby took a healthy gulp, refusing to swear when he burned his mouth on the scalding liquid. "Yeah. Thanks. What're we waiting for?"

Carter shrugged lazily. "No idea. Where did you disappear to this weekend? You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks. Didn't get much sleep this weekend." Colby took a more careful sip of the coffee.

Carter studied his friend for a minute. "I saw you leave with that girl. You telling me you spent the entire weekend with her? We're not gonna have to worry about some pissed off papa cuz you deflowered his little virgin, are we?"

"I'm not _telling_ you anything," Colby replied. "But no pissed off father or at least not one here. She wasn't Arabic."

"Really?" Carter didn't even try to keep the surprise off his face. "Hitting on soldiers in a bar here and she wasn't a raghead?"

"Your lack of social skills never ceases to amaze me, Carter," Colby said. "Plus your inability to be observant. Her eyes were blue. How are you not dead yet?"

"Cuz I've got you to watch my back." Dwayne plopped his boots up on the desk, figuring he was safe since their CO wasn't in yet. "You know her _eye_ color?"

Colby shoved the boots aside, then checked that Carter hadn't left any prints on their paperwork. "Yes. Don't you have something to do other than annoy the crap out of me?"

Carter considered it for a minute. "Nah. Nothing important. Obviously getting laid didn't put you in a good mood."

"I was in a fine mood until you started in on me." He waved a hand at the other member of their team who was in this morning and studiously ignoring their chatter. "Go practice your shoddy interrogation skills on Delko."

Carter grinned. "He's not nearly as much fun to piss off. So you gonna get a little more of that honey when you've got free time again?"

Colby picked a random folder from his pile and pretended interest in it. "Nope. Why don't you shut up now?"

Carter snorted. "Granger, I'd buy your 'I'm busy' act more if that folder was right side up."

Colby glared at him and flipped the folder over as their CO walked into the room, followed by a young woman. The three soldiers popped to their feet and snapped to attention at his arrival. The woman glanced around the room as the CO steered her to a stop. When she locked eyes with Colby, he felt an electric shock surge through him. "Oh, shite," she said as he stared at her in horror.

The CO looked confused for a moment. "Ma'am?" he asked.

Aiden grimaced as she realized she had verbalized her thought. Well at least she hadn't blurted out the rest of what was on her mind, which was _I know exactly what one of your soldiers looks like buck naked when he comes._ "Sorry, Major," she responded immediately. "I guess I didn't realize that you would have pictures from the interrogations up in the room."

The major glanced around the room and realized that there were pictures from some of the cases up on the walls. "Delko," he barked. "Get those down. I told you the civilian would be here today. You should have cleaned up a bit."

She turned so she wasn't looking at the pictures, which also allowed her to tear her eyes away from Colby, and smiled weakly. "Guess my stomach isn't as strong as I thought." She hated to play the girl card, but if it would take the major's mind off her slip, she would gladly pull it. "Can I sit down somewhere?" The man she didn't know had scurried to obey the major's order while Colby and his friend moved files off the desk where they had been sitting. Colby swung the chair he had been sitting in around and offered it to her. She sank into it and then accepted the coffee that Carter held out to her. After a couple of deep breaths, and a sip of coffee, she said, "Thank you. I feel better now."

The major frowned, obviously thinking there was something more to her first comment, but introduced her to the group anyway. "This is Doctor Aiden Bancroft. She's the linguist that we were assigned. Doctor Bancroft speaks better Arabic than you three plus a host of other languages and will be listening to the interrogations, but not participating in them. Try not to offend her." He glared at the three of them. "Granger, I'll leave you in charge of settling her in and I'll be back in about twenty minutes to take her to get processed." He nodded at them. "Doctor, is there anything you need before I leave you for a few minutes?"

Aiden shook her head. "No, I think Lieutenant Granger can explain everything to me." The moment the major left the room, the three men turned to face her. When it looked like the other two were going to open their mouths, she said, "So not having this conversation with either of you. Get lost. I want to talk to Granger for a minute. And considering I outrank you as much as a civilian can outrank a soldier, I _will_ make it an order."

Delko immediately fled in the face of her annoyance, causing Carter to laugh. "He always was a wuss. How the hell did he ever make it through basic?" He dropped into the chair where Delko had been sitting and crossed his arms. "You have your talk with Granger. This one I'm not missing."

Colby crossed the room in three quick strides and hauled Carter out of the chair by the back of his fatigues. "Yes, you are," he ground out. "Go make sure Delko doesn't run into trouble. Give us about fifteen minutes and knock before you come back in."

Carter glared and straightened his shirt, pointing a finger at Colby. "You better be glad I like you, Granger, cuz otherwise I'd kick your ass for that."

Colby snorted out a laugh. "You haven't yet. Now get outta here." Once Carter had left, although not without a backward glare at Aiden, Colby turned his attention to her. "What happened to not seeing me again?" he asked.

Aiden tugged on her braid. "I didn't intend to see you again. I came in early because my brother's unit had a stand down in the city. He went back out and I had a weekend to kill before I reported here. I probably shouldn't have picked you up in that bar, but I was really horny and I didn't see an issue." She shrugged. "I haven't been that stupid in a while."

He raised an eyebrow. "Not since the tattoo?"

She grimaced. "You _still_ aren't hearing that story. Look, I meant what I said about not sleeping with you again. I wasn't looking for a relationship. I was looking for sex; pure and simple. Can you work with me even with what happened?"

He blocked an image of her naked and willing in his arms and seriously considered her question. "What exactly are you going to be doing? I mean how often are we going to be in close contact?"

"I'm going to be listening to interrogations after the fact if any of them speak Arabic or something else I know. I'm also going to be translating any radio transmissions you pick up or come across. If you go out in the field, I'll go along to be a go between with whomever you have to speak with," she answered. "I will probably work with you, but not you exclusively."

He nodded. "I think I can. Or I'm at least willing to try." He held a hand out to her. "Friends?"

She smiled as she accepted his hand. "Friends."


End file.
